10th September 2019

Marriott pumps up its initiative to reduce single-use plastic bottles

Marriott International Inc. has announced it is to expand its initiative to replace miniature single-use bottles of shampoo, conditioner and bath gel in favour of a larger, pump-topped version.

In the fight against the plastic pollution epidemic, the Maryland-based hotel chain estimates it will prevent around 500 million tiny bottles ending up in landfill each year, when the initiative is fully implemented – a 30 percent annual reduction.

The company, which welcomes more than 1 million guests each night, has already rolled out larger bottles to 1,000 of its properties in North America and expects most of its other hotels to make the switch by December 2020.

The miniature bottles are not usually recycled and will never fully decompose in landfills, compared to the larger bottles which are recyclable and are a far greener option.

Arne Sorenson, president and CEO of Marriott International, said: “This is our second global initiative aimed at reducing single-use plastics in just over a year, which underscores how important we believe it is to continuously find ways to reduce our hotels’ environmental impact. It’s a huge priority for us.

“Our guests are looking to us to make changes that will create a meaningful difference for the environment while not sacrificing the quality service and experience they expect from our hotels.”

More than 20 percent of Marriott International’s 7,000 properties now offer the larger bottles in guestroom showers, with one of the pump-topped bottles containing the same amount of product as 10 to 12 tiny, single-use bottles.

The latest move forms part of Marriott International’s early 2018 initiative to switch single-use shower toiletry bottles to larger bottles with pump dispensers in five of its brands.

The hotel firm first began replacing single-use toiletry bottles in the bathrooms of around 450 select-service hotels with larger toiletry bottles in January 2018.

This initiative is part of Marriott International’s platform Serve 360: Doing Good in every Direction which addresses social and environmental issues. As part of the program, the company hopes to meet several of its sustainability goals, in a bid to reduce Marriott’s global environmental footprint. This will include cutting landfill waste by 45 percent and responsibly sourcing its top 10 product purchase categories by 2025.

In July 2018, the company’s hotels began phasing out disposable plastic straws and stirrers and switching to an on-demand approach with alternative products wherever possible. Marriott met its target last month, with an estimated diversion of 1 billion plastic straws from landfills annually.

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The Acre Foundation, the charitable arm of Acre Resources, is currently fundraising for its forthcoming mighty trek through The Accursed Mountains, to raise money for Plastic Oceans UK.

A team of 12 from the recruitment firm will embark on their latest expedition on October 3, through The Accursed Mountains of the Albanian Alps.

Not for the faint-hearted, this particular charity challenge will see the Acre team reach more than 3,600m of elevation, as they trek 53km of mountain trails through Albania, Kosovo and Montenegro.

Acre Resources, which has offices in London and New York, has been organising charity challenges for the past six years. This year it has chosen to raise funds for Plastic Oceans UK for the second year running, to help it continue to research innovative solutions to solve the plastic pollution epidemic.